


20. the one where you don’t know your soulmate until you hear them say your name

by Daecyan_Shikoba



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Established Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Happy Ending, M/M, Major Character Injury, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daecyan_Shikoba/pseuds/Daecyan_Shikoba
Summary: otpstony asked: The soulmate AU's for Stuckony? #20, cause you know Tony and his nicknames. It could be months before he says either of their names, longer if he knows they are his and each other's and angst~~~





	20. the one where you don’t know your soulmate until you hear them say your name

**Author's Note:**

> cross-posting from tumblr in light of tumblr's nonsense
> 
> (i fudged with the timeline a little, but nothing too drastic) (this got longer than i meant it. OH WELL) (mostly canon compliant with the exception of extremis, ignores age of ultron and beyond)

Steve and Bucky find each other young. It’s not  _completely_  unheard of, but it is a rare thing. They don’t care about that, though. Why would they? They’ve already found each other, they’re  _lucky_. They grow up together, share their grief and joys.

Then the war happens. Bucky gets his papers, and Steve keeps trying to follow. (Much to Bucky’s horror.) Bucky ships out, and Steve meets Dr. Erskine. It’s months before they see each other again, months of Steve bitter and angry and worried about Bucky, and months of Bucky thanking God every day that Steve isn’t  _there_ , that he’s at home and safe.

Captain America, on USO tours, visits the troops in Europe, and the rest, as they say,  _is history_.

* * *

Everyone knows that Captain America rescued his soulmate Bucky Barnes from Hydra, and that the Howling Commandos were formed. Everyone knows that the Howling Commandos took out dozens of Hydra bases. Everyone knows that Bucky Barnes fell from a train to his death in the alps, and that shortly thereafter Captain America saved the United States by crashing a bomb-filled plane somewhere in frozen waters.

* * *

This is what Tony grows up knowing. He grows up knowing that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were devoted to each other, that they had a bond that couldn’t be broken. He grows up hearing stories of them from his father, and Aunt Peggy. Tony knows more about them than what history’s taught. He knows they grew up together, that Steve became Captain America because he wanted to do his part, but also because he wanted to follow Bucky and keep him as safe as he could.

Tony dreams about being that lucky, about meeting his soulmate as young as Bucky and Steve met each other. He dreams about growing up the way they did. How wonderful it must be to have your soulmate there, neither of you ever again lonely.

But Tony grows up alone.

He builds DUM-E, then BUTTERFINGERS and U, and then JARVIS. They’re great, he loves them all so much. They’re his babies, really. They mean the  _world_  to him, but. He’s still alone.

His parents die, and he inherits the company. He thinks about how Steve Rogers had Bucky Barnes, to share the grief of his mother’s death. But he’s alone.

Then, he’s not so alone. He has Rhodey, who he meets at MIT and is his first and closest friend. Then Happy, who was uncharacteristically protective of Tony, even for head of security. Finally, then, was Pepper, who doesn’t take Tony’s shit and seems to love him as much as Rhodey and Happy.

Tony watches Pepper and Happy come together with a smile and joy, because they deserve to be happy. Rhodey meets his soulmate a few years later, and Tony is so happy because Rhodey deserves every good thing in the world. Sure, he still hasn’t met  _his_  soulmate yet, but he’s not alone anymore.

He sleeps around, because he  _likes_  sex. He meets  _so many_  people, and more often than not he’s fucking grateful none of them are his soulmate. He raises SI to new heights, builds better weapons for the military and devotes entire divisions to designing and inventing and improving other technologies and robotics. He starts working on clean energy.

* * *

Years pass.

* * *

He goes to Afghanistan whole and comes back months later with a chest full of shrapnel, the arc powered magnet keeping it from shredding his heart, and the knowledge that the weapons he built to protect their troops were in the hands of terrorists.

He comes back as Iron Man.

A few more years pass by. He nearly dies, stops Stane, and nearly dies again. He builds more suits, takes out any cache of Stark weapons he learns about. He rediscovers an element, and stops some bad guys.

Tony’s not alone, but he  _feels_  alone. Going on forty and he knows, he  _knows_  that some people are well into their sixties before they meet their soulmate, but it’s getting harder.

Then Fury and his super secret spy organization come calling, bringing together the people for Fury’s super secret boy band. He learns that Captain America, that  _Steve Rogers_ , is  _alive._ Alive, looking exactly as he had when he crashed that plane. Alive, and  _completely alone_.

That resonates with Tony, deep in the soft tender places he hides from the rest of the world. He doesn’t get the chance to meet him, before something hijacks the tesseract and a dozen SHIELD agents and the scientist who’d been studying the tesseract. It’s a shame, really, but Tony suits up and flies to Germany and makes an entrance.

Steve says “Mr. Stark.” and Tony says “Cap.” and it’s all fine. Then it’s  _not_  fine, but they save the world. They all get some shwarma, and some sleep, and see Thor off as he takes the tesseract and his wayward brother back home, and they all go their separate ways for a bit.

Things carry on situation normal. Then Steve shows up at the tower, looking earnest and a little guilty, apologizing for the harsh words he’d said on the helicarrier. Says he didn’t feel right, not apologizing for it.

He says  _Tony_.

The thing Tony’s been waiting for, been dreaming about since he was a small boy sitting on his mother’s knees, happens, and Tony’s world crashes down around his ears because how could  _Steve_  be his soulmate? It feels like a cosmic joke. Steve had Bucky, that’s the way it was supposed to be. What sort of punishment, Tony wants to know, is the world dishing out to Steve, saddling him with  _Tony_ , after losing everyone he knew and loved.

Tony decides to never call Steve by his name.

It’s not even out of the norm for him. Tony is full of nicknames for everyone. He’s been giving people nicknames for ages. This isn’t any different. Not really.

* * *

Steve goes to DC and Tony goes back to California, and they don’t really keep in touch because why would they?

The Mandarin happens, and he nearly loses everything, nearly loses Pepper and Happy. It wakes him up to some things, and he curses himself every time he wonders if things would be easier if he reached out to Steve. He doesn’t, of course. He doesn’t tell anyone.

Rhodey knows something’s up with him, but lets him be. Tony makes sure Pepper and Happy are okay, sets them up with a new home, installs JARVIS, and packs his shit to move back to New York. The tower is finished, ready for him and the rest of the Avengers if they so choose.

For awhile, it’s just him. Then it’s him and Bruce. Then it’s him and Bruce and Clint. Natasha and Steve are still in DC.

Then one day JARVIS interrupts him while he works on the newest suit, pulls up several news channels all displaying the three new helicarriers crashing into the Potomac, and his blood turns to ice. Tony tries calling Steve, and then Natasha, to no avail. They set fire to SHIELD, exposed Hydra, and Tony has  _no idea_  where they are.

Neither does Clint.

There’s nothing they can do, and that stings. Tony doesn’t know if Steve’s okay, and he’s terrified. He still hasn’t said anything.

* * *

Natasha and Steve come limping back, towing a new guy named Sam behind them. Apparently he’s Natasha’s soulmate. Steve is  _quiet_. Intense. Natasha’s the one to tell Tony what happened, that Bucky’s  _alive_. That Bucky was tortured and brainwashed into the perfect assassin. That Bucky’s in the wind, now.

Tony pushes down his feelings, packs them away in a neat little box to be examined at a later date. Or never at all. Steve might be  _his_  soulmate, but he’s not Steve’s.

So Tony gets to work on helping Steve find Bucky, and six months later Steve and Natasha arrive at the tower with a frightened, haggard-looking Bucky between them. Tony wants to cry, maybe, but he gives Bucky a genuine smile as Steve introduces him.

“You’re Howard’s boy?” Bucky croaks, and Steve elbows him gently.

“Yeah,” Tony agrees, then says, “it wasn’t your fault.”

Bucky goes white, flinches, and Tony ignores the way Steve glares daggers at him.

“I just want you to know that,” he continues. “I just want to help you. Any way I can.”

“Tony…” Steve trails off, looking torn. Looking like maybe he can’t decide if he wants to hit Tony or hug him.

“Relax, Cap,” Tony sighs, and jerks his head at the elevator. “C’mon, let’s go get you two settled.”

Tony can feel their eyes on him, so he starts talking about the tower and JARVIS and tries not to act too relieved when they reach the floor Tony’d set up for Steve. He watches Bucky peer around what he can see of the floor, eyes darting to Steve every once in awhile. As long as Steve is happy, Tony will be okay.

“If your arm ever needs looked at, or something,” Tony says, just before he makes his retreat, “come find me and I’ll see what I can do, if you want.”

* * *

“It keeps making this grindin’ noise,” Bucky declares one night in the communal kitchen a few weeks later, scaring the shit out of Tony.

“Fuck,” Tony gasps, just barely keeping from dropping his coffee, and turns to Bucky. “I’ll forgive you because you wouldn’t know, but I have a weak heart.”

Bucky furrows his brows and tilts his head, taking a step closer. He reaches out with his right hand and taps a finger gently against the blue glow emanating through his shirt. “Steve said you had some sorta pacemaker thing. This it?”

“What? Oh yeah,” Tony frowns, startled. “How’d that even come up?”

Bucky shrugs and looks down to his arm. “He said you made it yourself, like your suits, and stuff. Tryna convince me I could trust you with my arm, I guess.”

Tony swallows and fights down the blush. “Yeah, well. You said it’s making a grinding noise?”

“Yeah,” Bucky agrees, and holds his left arm out. “When I move it certain ways.”

“Okay,” Tony mumbles, and steps closer to him to inspect the arm. “The specs on this I found weren’t the most detailed, but if you let JARVIS do some quick scans we’ll be right as rain, freezer pop.”

“How come you only ever use nicknames with people?” Bucky asks, unexpectedly, and Tony’s muttering halts. “I never heard you call Steve by his name, or me, or even that Bruce fellow. Just Natasha, and Clint sometimes when he’s pissed you off.”

“I - uh, no reason, really,” Tony stammers, then clears his throat. “I’ve always used nicknames with people. Stick around awhile and you’ll meet Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy. I don’t think I’ve called them by their given name in  _years_.”

“Oh,” Bucky says, and studies Tony for a moment. “Do you just not like using people’s given names or somethin’?”

“I dunno,” Tony mumbles, ducking his head to pretend like he’s inspecting the plating of the arm closer. “Just never thought much about it.”

“Maybe you should,” Bucky mutters, then shakes his head. “So does that mean you prefer people to not use your given name? I imagine bein’ all rich’n’famous, you’d get all sorts a’people calling ya ‘Tony’ or ‘Anthony’ hopin’ you’re their soulmate.”

Tony  _freezes_ , stops breathing, as the electric tingle crawls up his spine like it did the first time Steve said his name.

“Yeah, I do,” Tony forces out, forces himself to glance up and meet Bucky’s eyes with a wry grin. “I don’t mind it.”

Bucky’s eyes are narrowed, watching him, and Tony looks back down at his arm. Inside he’s screaming, heart racing and stomach lurching.

“Did you get those scans, J?” Tony asks.

“Indeed, Sir,” JARVIS replies smoothly. “I have even pinpointed the location and cause of the problem.”

“Alright, Capsicle 2.0, let’s head down to my workshop and see if I can’t get that taken care of,” Tony says cheerfully, and starts for the elevator.

* * *

The thing about soulmates is, nobody really understands how it works. The science behind it. Scientists have spent centuries trying to figure it out, to no avail. The only things they do know are what everyone else already knows:

You don’t know who your soulmate is until the first time they say your name.

It could be romantic, or platonic.

Sometimes there’s only one, but sometimes there’re two or more.

You never actually know if you have more than one soulmate until you’ve met them all.

* * *

Tony considers avoiding Steve and Bucky, but ultimately decides against it. He can just imagine the hurt look on Steve’s face, if he did. They’d become fast friends over the months Tony had helped Steve find Bucky. And Bucky needs all the support he can get. So what if Tony can never say their names to them.

So, he doesn’t avoid them, and they find ways to drag him out of the workshop. Movie nights, and outings to explore New York. Training, because Steve  _insists_  and Tony’s pretty sure he’s going to go insane every single time. And between all that are the Avengers missions that Bucky watches in the workshop on the screens Tony’d set up for him, because Bucky hasn’t been cleared to go out with them and Tony knew it was driving Bucky out of his mind with worry every time Steve suited up and he wasn’t there to have Steve’s back.

It’s all working out  _fine_ , even if Tony’s gone and fallen in love with the both of them. It’s all fine. They have each other, and they’re happy, so Tony’s happy. They’re still in his life, and he never has to inflict himself on them and their bond. Everything is  _fine_.

Until it isn’t.

* * *

“Cap, there’s a doombot on your six,” Tony says into the comms as he twists around to fire another repulsor blast at the doombot that’s been chasing him around Jersey City for the last couple minutes.

“Hey, we should get Korean after,” Clint says casually, and Tony watches two emp arrows arc through the air and hit a couple doombots going after Natasha.

“I dunno man,” Sam disagrees, diving to kick another doombot attacking Steve before rejoining Tony in the air. “I’m feeling more like pizza.”

“Chatter,” Steve grunts, slinging his shield.

“Aww Winghead, you’re no fun,” Tony teases, and drops down to the street to take out another doombot that’d been coming up behind Steve.

Steve grins and catches his shield.

“I don’t care what any of ya want, I’m orderin’ Indian,” Bucky declares.

“Stop trying to suck up to Bruce!” Clint protests.

Tony laughs and launches back up to help Sam.

The fight’s going well, and Tony lets his guard down for just a second. A doombot comes up behind him and does  _something_ , and next thing he knows he’s crashing into asphalt and concrete face first and the suit is dead around him. He curses, tries to move, but it’s no use.

“You okay in there, Shellhead?” Steve asks from just above him, tapping on the back of the helmet.

“Get me outta this thing,” Tony demands, muffled but Steve hears him all the same.

A minute later, Steve’s hit all the emergency latches and is peeling the suit away from him. “Yeah, Buck, Tony’s fine, just looks like a few bruises,” he says into his comms as he helps Tony up.

Tony makes a face and wipes sweat from his eyes. “What the  _hell_  hit me?” He grumbles, squinting down at the suit. 

There’s a faint whine from behind them, and Tony whirls around, shouting, but it’s all a millisecond too late.

“Steve!”

The doombot gets it’s shot off and Steve’s staring at Tony with wide eyes when it hits him. He goes flying into the nearest building, and Tony lobs a small chunk of broken concrete at the doombot. An emp arrow slams into the thing seconds later, but Tony’s already headed for Steve’s slumped body.

He drops to his knees beside him, checking for a pulse. The relief that slams into Tony when he finds one is staggering, and he moves his hand to cup the back of Steve’s neck, skimming his fingers lightly over what he can of the back of Steve’s head. They come away wet with blood.

“Fuck,” he mutters, and checks the wound inflicted by the doombot.

Bucky’s voice, tiny and shot through with static interference, reaches Tony’s ears, coming from Steve’s comms. He sounds frantic, terrified, and it takes Tony a moment to remember that his monitors went dark with the Iron Man suit, and with Steve not  _answering_  him anymore, he has no idea if Steve’s okay.

Natasha appears, then, looking grim, and Tony looks up at her helplessly, his hands pressed against the wound in Steve’s chest.

“Stay put, Barnes, there’s nothing you can do to help right now,” she orders into the comms. “Cap is down, but Stark is with him, and Clint’s on his way to fly them both to the tower.”

“Make sure the, uh, the medical wing is prepared to deal with massive trauma to the head and chest,” Tony chokes out, looking back down at Steve’s slack face. “I think it might’ve broken his ribs.”

“Probably,” Natasha agrees as she kneels down next to them, then relays the message. “That blast sent him flying. His head?”

“Um, the back of his head came away bloody, when I checked,” Tony explains, and  _fuck_ , his hands are shaking, and adrenaline is making his heart race.

“Okay, so he’ll probably have a concussion,” Natasha says matter-of-factly as she uses a knife to cut away some fabric from the pant leg of her uniform. “Here,” she murmurs, holding it out, “use this to help staunch the blood flow.”

Tony takes it, thinking near-hysterically that her catsuit shouldn’t be that easy to cut.

“Tony, hey,” Natasha says, touching his hand with a the tips of her fingers. “Hey, you need to calm down.”

“ _You_  calm down,” Tony snarls, then takes a deep breath because she’s right. Normally he’s much more level-headed than this.

Thor touches down a moment later, face creased with worry, and he helps bundle Steve up into Thor’s arms. He follows Thor to the quinjet, where it’s just landed in the nearest area large enough to accommodate it. Behind them, Natasha’s directing Sam to help her gather the pieces of Tony’s armor.

Clint gets them to the tower quickly, where the private doctors Tony’d hired after SHIELD collapsed are waiting for them. Bucky’s there, too, pale and wild-eyed. As soon as the quinjet lands the doctors board, pushing Tony out of the way to start working on Steve, and Tony lets himself fall back against the far wall, slides down until he’s sitting there, out of the way.

He’s covered in Steve’s blood, and his hands are shaking.

Bucky finds him there an hour later.

“He’s gonna be okay,” he says, voice hoarse. “Serum’s taking care of the concussion, and the blast to his chest. The doctors think he’ll be awake by tomorrow night at the latest.”

Tony nods, staring down at his hands. “That’s, that’s good.”

“Tony - ” Bucky starts, but Tony cuts him off with a shake of the head.

“It’s - I should go wash off,” Tony chokes out, and pushes himself to his feet.

Bucky catches him before he can hit the floor again, and holds him tight as Tony cries into his shoulder. He babbles as he cries, unintelligible attempts at apologies and self-recrimination. Bucky cups the back of his head and shushes him, gentle and patient, and Tony should be comforting  _him_  not the other way around.

“C’mon, sweetheart,” Bucky murmurs after Tony’s mostly cried out and just sniffling into the soft material of Bucky’s sweater. “Let’s go get you cleaned up, yeah?”

Tony lets Bucky guide him from the quinjet and all the way to his bathroom. He stares while Bucky grabs a couple washcloths and a towel, but doesn’t fight him when Bucky nudges him to sit on the sink counter. He feels like shit, wrung out and sore and guilty.

“You did good,” Bucky says as he wets one of the washcloths with warm water. “I saw Natasha before I found you, and she told me how you took care of Steve. You did good, Tony. Thank you.”

“I - it was m’fault,” Tony croaks, and startles when Bucky grabs his hand and starts scrubbing at the blood lightly. “What’re you - don’t, you don’t have to - Bucky,  _stop_ , you - ”

* * *

The one thing scientists have come to agree on, with all their theories about soulmates and the  _knowing_ : 

It doesn’t  _have_  to be their given name. It could be a nickname they prefer over their given name, or a name they’ve decided is their’s more than the one their parents named them. If it’s said by their soulmate, the connection will spark.

No one is one hundred percent certain  _why_  this is. It just is.

* * *

Bucky twitches, and the rest of Tony’s sentence dies in his throat as Bucky looks up at him with wide, wide eyes.

“Tony…you - why didn’t you…?”

“I,” Tony swallows, shaking all over again. “I - it’s, it’s not - ”

“ _Tony_ ,” Bucky growls, reaching up with his free hand to grip Tony’s chin and pulling him down just enough to press their foreheads together. “Tell me this: Steve, too?”

Tony chews on his cheek, one hand reaching up to wrap around Bucky’s wrist. “I -  _yes_.”

Bucky makes a noise, and surges upwards to press their mouths together, his hand sliding along Tony’s jaw to the side of his face. Tony whimpers and sinks into the kiss, trembling. Bucky breaks away after a moment, presses a tender kiss to the corner of Tony’s mouth, and returns to his previous task.

“We’re gonna talk about this later, after Steve wakes up,” Bucky declares, meeting Tony’s eyes briefly before focusing once more on washing Steve’s blood off of Tony’s hands.

“M’sorry,” Tony whispers, a little dazed, and jerks in surprise when Bucky flicks his shoulder before moving onto his other hand.

“Don’t apologize,” he says fiercely, “not for what happened earlier and not for this.  _This_  isn’t something you apologize for, ain’t nothin’ you control.”

“Except I  _knew_ , I’ve  _known_  for months,” Tony protests, and he doesn’t know why he’s protesting.

Bucky sighs, and turns to rinse the washcloth out before taking it to Tony’s neck and face where blood had smeared. “A’course you knew, sweetheart, and  _I_  know you well enough by now to know what must’a been goin’ through your head. How you didn’t wanna intrude, or somethin’ equally as ridiculous.”

“I’m - ”

“No,” Bucky snaps, then sighs. “No, don’t. I know you had your reasons for not  _sayin’_ somethin’, sweetheart. Maybe you were afraid it was one-sided. Maybe you were afraid it  _wasn’t_. You’re allowed to be scared, there’re plenty of people who’ve kept their traps shut. Or maybe you didn’t feel like you deserved this.”

“I… I spent so long wishing,” Tony whispers, eyes locked on Bucky’s shoulder. “And then I stopped wishing, because it hurt. I grew up hearing about you and Steve from my dad, and Aunt Peggy. Then one day Steve just. Shows up, and he says my  _name,_ and I knew I couldn’t - I couldn’t  _do that_  to him. For him he’d  _just_  lost you.

“And I - I couldn’t do that to me, either.”

“Sweetheart,” Bucky sighs, soft and sad, and pulls Tony into a tight hug. “You don’t havta explain it to me.”

“I said his name,” Tony mumbles into Bucky’s neck, after a minute. “Just before the blast hit him.”

“Good,” Bucky snorts, turning his head to press a kiss to Tony’s temple. “That means he’ll wake up just so he can knock you upside the head for waitin’ so long and then kiss the life outta ya.”

“Right,” Tony snorts, and yelps when Bucky shifts his hold to Tony’s waist and picks him up off the counter. “What - put me down!”

“Nope,” he says, getting his left forearm under Tony’s ass for better support. “I know you’ll run the moment I let go, and I’m not gonna let that happen.”

“Bucky - ”

Bucky cuts him off with a clumsy kiss that makes the breath catch in Tony’s chest and has him wrapping his legs around Bucky’s waist. “You seem to be operating under a misconception. You didn’t think either of us would want you, but we do. Steve’n’I were plannin’ on askin’ you out.”

Tony makes a small, disbelieving noise. “Why the  _hell_  would you do that? As far as you two knew, you didn’t have another soulmate, why would either of you want to bring in a third person?”

“Because,” Bucky explains patiently as he starts walking them out of the bathroom and towards the elevator. “We’re sweet on you. Having a soulmate doesn’t keep you from developing feelings for a person who’s  _not_  your soulmate. Seems like that’s somethin’ people in the future should’ve accepted by now.”

“Yeah, well,” Tony sighs, and finally relaxes into Bucky’s hold.

“To medical please, JARVIS,” Bucky says once they’re on the elevator, and the doors slid shut before descending smoothly. “Good thing you thought to have those couches installed in the rooms. Nobody wants to sleep in a chair.”

“Freezer pop, c’mon, don’t - ”

“Hush,” Bucky murmurs, and brushes a kiss against Tony’s jaw. “Steve’ll want you there. You were vulnerable and alone last he knew. You’re gonna be his first thought. Plus, I want you there with me. Please?”

“I… Yeah, okay.”

“Thank you, baby.”

* * *

Tony wakes up with his head in Bucky’s lap, face pressed into his belly, and Bucky’s fingers in his hair. There’s a blanket covering him that wasn’t there before, and the sound of Steve’s voice instead of the tv. He stays still, heart in his throat, pretends to still be asleep as he listens to Steve and Bucky chat.

It takes him a minute to realize they’re talking about him.

“Did he believe you?” Steve asks, and the way Bucky sighs implies this isn’t the first time he’s asked that question. “Don’t give me that look, Buck! You haven’t actually answered my question.”

“I don’t  _know_ , Steve,” Bucky huffs, fingers pausing briefly in Tony’s hair before resuming their petting. “If he hadn’t been so drained, he probably would’ve run. He’s Tony, you  _know_  him.”

“…yeah,” Steve sighs. “I wish he could  _see._ Why are we so bad at this?”

“Probably because we met each other so young we didn’t  _have_  to worry about wooing each other,” Bucky snorts, and Tony bites his lip to keep from grinning.

“We shoulda been straightforward with him,” Steve grumbles, sounding a little petulant. “Coulda had him weeks ago.”

Bucky hums thoughtfully. “Or he woulda run.”

“We wouldn’ta let him,” Steve declares, and this time Tony can’t hold in the little snort.

“Good mornin’, doll,” Bucky chuckles, brushing his thumb over Tony’s cheek.

“Tony,” Steve says softly,  _so softly_ , and Tony sucks in a breath, unsure. “Will you look at me, please?”

Tony swallows, glances up at Bucky quickly, then steels himself and shifts around until he’s sitting up. Steve, when he finally looks, is smiling at him, eyes soft and fond and happy, and Tony looks away briefly before meeting Steve’s gaze. In it is everything he’s always wanted, and he doesn’t know how to handle this.

“There you are,” Steve smiles, gentle and pleased. “I’m glad.”

“You’re…glad?” Tony says, thrown. “That’s it?”

“What were you expectin’, sweetheart?” Steve asks. “You’re mine, and Bucky’s, and we’re yours. Of  _course_  I’m glad.”

“But - ”

“I’m sorry we kept you waitin’ for so long,” he interrupts.

Tony jerks a little, his face growing warm, and he shakes his head. “You didn’t know.”

“No,” Bucky agrees, “but neither did you, and if we hadn’t been such  _cowards_  you woulda.”

“That’s not - ” Tony starts, then exhales sharply.

Steve sighs, and shoves the blankets off of his legs, pushing himself out of bed. Tony makes a protesting noise, because Steve’s  _still healing_ , damn him, but then Steve’s  _there_ , kneeling in front of him and reaching up to cup Tony’s face with his hand. He goes still, staring at Steve, trembling a little when Steve’s thumb strokes just beneath his eye.

“Let’s just agree that maybe we all dropped the ball on this one?” Steve grins wryly, his other hand coming up to wrap around the back of Tony’s neck. “It’s nobody’s fault, in my opinion. Worryin’ about it won’t change it, and frankly I’d much rather spend my time kissin’ you.”

“I - you just -  _Steve_ , damnit,” Tony stammers, and reaches up to grip Steve’s forearms. “Kiss me, then, you bastard.”

Steve smiles brightly, and tugs Tony down into a kiss much more heated than Tony’d been anticipating.

“Shit,” Bucky mutters, and a second later his mouth is on Tony’s jaw, lips trailing up to his ear and back down.

“When I’m released we’re gonna spend an entire day locked in our room,” Steve mumbles against his mouth, and Tony shivers.

“Isn’t that moving a little fast for your old fashioned sensibilities?” Tony gasps, and Steve chuckles as he trails kisses along the other side of his jaw.

“Far as I’m concerned, we’ve already been on several dates,” Bucky says, and gets a grip on Tony’s chin to turn his face towards Bucky for a fierce kiss.

“No more wastin’ time,” Steve agrees, stroking his hands down Tony’s shoulders and arms to settle at his waist, pressing kisses to Tony’s throat, and Tony shudders. He pulls back, then, and says seriously, “unless  _you_  want to wait? If you’re not ready, honey, that’s okay.”

“I - are you  _kidding_  me?” Tony groans, shivers, “I’m more than ready.”

“Good,” Steve and Bucky say together.

_~fin_


End file.
